~Under Construction~

Pardon the dust! :) I won the MyMemories software last weekend and have been working on a new blog theme this week. I will be making the changes slowly so I (hopefully) won't mess everything up! Please be patient as I do this update!  Thank you!

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ October 7, 2011

In my life this week…kids = crazy but I did win some cool stuff so, that offsets the bad stuff! I won MyMemories software from Rachel at Of Love and Beauty and Math House Games from Heidi's Ramblings, Reflections & Reviews and a scrapbook kit from Albums to Remember!

In our homeschool this week…we worked on products/curriculums that I will be reviewing. We will do the same thing next we as it is supposed to be our fall break!

As a family we are working on being Content. We also learned about Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti, King Tut and Ramses II (the Great).

Unicorn is getting ready for The American Math Challenge, writing an Approach Paper, learning more Latin and Cleaning her room!

Ladybug is helping me review Ooka Island and First Start Reading.

Monkey enjoyed My Blue Boat {BFIAR} this week.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…I am going to try to meet up with a couple friends that I don't get to see very often and hubby and I are going to go to the Arizona Temple and out to dinner for our 7th anniversary that is on the 15th!

My favorite thing this week was…well, it wasn't all the fighting and screaming the kids did so, I will have to go with my winning streak! ;)

Things I’m working on…using MyMemories to redesign my blog(s)!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share… some scrapbook pages I made this week!

TOS Review ~ Scruble Cube

Can I just say, "WOW!" and leave it at that? This product has been a lot of FUN to review! So,

What is it? 

It is a cross between Scrabble and Rubik's Cube! It's Scruble Cube! Scruble Cube is an educational game that is played similar to Scrabble. You form words using the letters on the cube. Words can begin and end anywhere on the cube as long as they are in a straight line. You can manipulate the cube in a manner similar to a Rubik's Cube in order to form more words.

What's in the Box?*The Cube*Instructions*Getting Started Guide*Timer*Score Pad
More Details:*$24.95 (click here to purchase or learn more) *Ages 8+*1-4 Players*Multiple Variations of Play*Website has Lesson Plans (Language, Math, English, Spelling, Logic and Science)*Online forum to see/share other ways to use the cube is coming soon!*Instructions and Score Pad template are downloadable from the website.  What do we Think?
We LOVE it! Unicorn used the Scruble Cube and the Scruble Cube PDF Worksheet from the website for practice finding words, counting up the points and looking up the words in the dictionary. She really enjoyed this game and I liked that it involved dictionary skills! I like that the instructions were easy to read and that they included 2 variations. In addition, I like that the website provides additional ways to use the cube and to make it even more educational that it already is. 

Unicorn using the Scruble Cube and the Worksheet

One thing I do NOT care for is that it feels fragile. I would love to let my 5 year-old try to find words but I am scared to let her touch the cube. I would be very careful allowing young children (or rambunctious ones) to use this product.
Click here to read what my Crew Mates think about the Scruble Cube!
{Disclosure: I received a the Scruble Cube in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and all thoughts and opinions are my own.}

Workbox Wednesday

This week I am featuring Ladybug's Workboxes. She is in K/1! We have a LOT of reviews coming up so this week and next we will be focusing on review products and our family studies.


After, reading the Friend and memorizing the 9th Article of Faith (Religion), learning to be Content and Obedient (Virtues) and learning about Ramses II (History), Ladybug will help me review the following products:

Ooka Island and First Start Reading Lesson 18 (reading words as, has, is, his and some sentences). Since she is doing so well in math and helping me review to Reading products at the same time, she is taking a week off of Math.

Guideline: Please grab a Button or link back here! Thanks!

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ September 30, 2011

In my life this week…I did laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. YUCK!

In our homeschool this week…we decided to take things a little easier. I was looking at my calendar for October and we getting overwhelmed. I have a TON of reviews coming up and our house was beginning to look like a tornado hit it...except for the laundry room which was taken over by just about every article of clothing we own (talk about Mt. Washmore)! 

As a family we did Religion and History, worked on cleaning the house and used our products that are up for review.

Unicorn continued to use Life of Fred and ALEKS QuickTables for Math. Reading and Writing were replaced with a Literature review product as was Latin. In addition, she used 2 other products that are fun and educational.

Ladybug and Monkey had a bit of a break. They joined us for Religion, History and cleaning. Next week will be pretty much the same except I have a couple products to review with these two!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…know your limits (and those of your children)!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…this weekend we are staying home and watching General Conference. If you are not LDS (Mormon), General Conference is a time when the Prophet and the Apostles teach the people in a Worldwide Conference. Conference can be watched live in Salt Lake City, Utah, via satellite at many of our church buildings, via cable or satellite in your home (BYU channel and in some areas a local station will pick it up as well) or streamed on the internet at lds.org. For more information go to lds.org or mormon.org or click the "I believe" button on my sidebar.

My favorite thing this week was…listening to Ladybug recount her first birthday party experience. She is 5 and was invited to a friend's pj and spa birthday party. She still hasn't stopped talking about it! 

What’s working/not working for us…reviewing for the TOS crew (and a few private reviews too)! I am a curriculum junkie and reviewing products is helping curb my "oh! This curriculum would be perfect" problem! :) My kids are enjoying it too, they never know what will show up in their workboxes!

Questions/thoughts I have…is it REALLY October already?!?!? Where has this year gone?!?

Things I’m working on…reviews, reviews, a giveaway, reviews, and more reviews! :D

I’m reading…I made a goal this year to read the entire Bible and I just finished it this past week! This is the first time I have ever read it ALL the way through. 

I’m cooking…e-Mealz!

I’m grateful for…for homeschooling. I'm grateful we can take breaks and switch things up as necessary.

I’m praying for…clarity.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…


“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” –Aristotle

Workbox Wednesday ~ Link-up

*AND*

Have you checked out Chestnut Grove Academy's blog? 

If not, shame on you! ;) Jen has a great blog! 

I don't want to give away too much but, 

she hosts a Blog Roll, a Geography Blog Hop and a Field Trip Friday Blog Hop. 

She has giveaways and does reviews. 

Also, we are putting together a Blog Hop for Thursdays (stay tuned)!

Normally I alternate between Preschool, K/1 and 6th Grade workboxes but, this week we are doing something different. That is why we homeschool, right? So we can mix it up when we want/need to? I haven't been feeling well the past month or so and our home is starting to look/feel like mom has been on vacation. Then, on Saturday, I was having trouble planning our week and couldn't figure out why. I have 9 reviews and a giveaway coming up in October and was starting to feel overwhelmed. So, I decided that we will only be doing Religion, History, items that are up for review AND a week of cooking and cleaning! Also, Unicorn will continue with Math (since this is her weakness).




1. Religion: Reading the Friend as a family
2.
3. History: The Mystery of History ~ Joshua, Jericho and Rahab
4. Math: Life of Fred ~ Butterflies Ch. 12
5. Literature: Intro. to Lit. ~ Unit 1
6. Latin ~ Lesson 6A
7. Scruble Cube
8. Always Ice Cream

Guidelines: Please Grab a Button (or link back here). Also, it would be AWESOME if you would visit my co-host and as many other links as you can. I love seeing everyone's workboxes!

~SNEAK PEAK~

So, I want to give you a little *sneak peak* of things to come here over the next 6 weeks or so!
Watch this week for a special co-host for Workbox Wednesday! Also,


the hours for the Workbox Wednesday link-up will be changing starting this week. The new hours will be from 12 noon (AZ time) on Wednesdays until 11:59 pm (AZ time) on Saturdays. This should help those of you who like to combine posts. It will also give me a little more time to get my posts ready...it has been close a few times as things are getting busy around here with reviews.

That leads me into my next *sneak peak* topic: Upcoming Reviews!

10/5 ~ Scruble Cube (lovin' it)

10/10 ~ Visual Latin (lovin' it)

10/12 ~ Always Ice Cream (Unicorn really likes this one)

10/14 ~ e-Mealz (who doesn't like food...even better when someone else does all the planning)

10/19 ~ Wit & Wagers Family (just arrived but looks like it will be lots of fun)

10/21 ~ (GIVEAWAY)

10/24 ~ Marshall Publishing (3 great products)

10/26 ~ Excellence in Literature (we are just starting to use this one but I am loving the book choices)

10/28 ~ Classical Phonics & Reading (anxiously awaiting the arrival of this one)


Last, but not least, I am teaming up with Chestnut Grove Academy to bring you a new Blog Hop! It is going to be a general homeschooling blog hop so you will be able to link-up anything related to homeschooling! More details coming soon! While your checking out her blog you should link-up to her blog roll!

Oops...one more thing...did you enter my giveaway? Hurry...it ends Oct. 1!